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International Law and the Closure of the International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2017

Valerie Oosterveld
Valerie Oosterveld*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario (Canada)
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Type
Getting to Closure: Winding Up the International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals
Information
Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting , Volume 104 , 2010 , pp. 37 - 41
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2010

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References

1 The case of Prosecutor v. Charles Taylor, Case No. SCSL-2003-01-T (Spec. Ct. Sierra Leone, Trial Chamber II), is currently in trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The prosecution phase of the trial is completed, and it is estimated that the defense phase of the trial will be completed in October 2010, with a judgment expected in early to mid-2011. Judgment on any appeal would follow within approximately six months, bringing the likely closing date for the Special Court to late 2011 or early 2012.

2 Current estimates in the ICTY’s Karadzic case indicate an end date for that case of June 2014, while there is an estimated end date for the ICTR’s Karemera et al. case of December 2013. Letter from President of International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia Since 1991 to President of Security Council, May 31, 2010, UN Doc. S/2010/270 (June 1, 2010) at Enclosures VIII and IX [ICTY Completion Strategy Update 2010].

3 This potential for a date extension is indicated on the website of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, http://www.eccc.gov.kh/english/faq.view.aspx7doc_ids48. The annex to Security Council Resolution 1757 setting up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon states that, after three years the parties, in consultation with the Security Council, will review the progress of the work of the Tribunal. UN Doc. S/Res/1757 (May 30, 2007), at art. 23.

4 Report of the Secretary-General on the Administrative and Budgetary Aspects of the Options for Possible Locations for the Archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Seat of the Residual Mechanism(s) for the Tribunals, UN Doc. S/2009/258 (May 21, 2009), at para. 18 [May 2009 Report of the Secretary-General].

5 Id. Note that this report refers to four high-level accused among 13 Ictr fugitives. Since May 2009, two fugitives were caught and transferred to the ICTR, reducing the number of fugitives to 11. Letter from President of International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to President of Security Council, May 28, 2010, UN Doc. S/2010/259 (May 28, 2010) at 8-9, 28 [ICTR Completion Strategy Update 2010]. One of these fugitives was high-level accused Idelphonse Nizeyimana.

6 International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Rules of Procedure and Evidence, UN Doc. Itr/3/Rev.l9 (Oct. 1, 2009), at Rule 11 bis.

7 May 2009 Report of the Secretary-General, supra note 4, at para. 35.

8 Prosecutor v. Koroma, Indictment, Case No. SCSL 2003-03-1 (Spec. Ct. Sierra Leone, Mar. 3, 2003), at para. 7.

9 In 2003 the BBC reported on Koroma’s suspected death. War Crimes Court Probes Death Reports, BBC News, June 16, 2003, at http://news.BBC.co.Uk/2/hi/africa/2992462.stm. However, Koroma’s death has not been definitively proven by the Office of the Prosecutor, so the indictment remains active. See Stephen Rapp, Special Court Chief Prosecutor Answers Your Questions, Part II, Sept. 3, 2009, at http://www.charlestaylortrial.org/2009/09/03/stephen-rapp-special-court-chief-prosecutor-answers-your-questions-part-ii/.

10 Special Court for Sierra Leone Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Rule 1 Ibis, available at http://www.sc-sl.org/LirKCUck.aspx?filetícket=yNjqn5TIYKs%3d&tabid=176.

11 May 2009 Report of the Secretary-General, supra note 4, at para. 39. The Special Court for Sierra Leone has sentence enforcement agreements with Finland, Rwanda, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. See Special Court for Sierra Leone, Documents, http://www.sc-sl.org/DOCUMENTS/tabid/176/Default.aspx.

12 Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Sc Res. 827, UN Scor 48th sess., 3217th mtg., at 1-2, 32 EM 1159, at art. 27 (1993); Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Sc Res. 955, UN Scor 49th sess., 3453rd mtg, UN Doc. S/Res/955, 33 ILM 1598, at art. 26 (1994); Agreement Between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone, Jan. 16, 2002, 2178 Unts 138 (entered into force Apr. 12, 2002) (containing the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone as an annex, at art. 22).

13 Prosecutor v. Sesay, Judgment, Case No. SCSL-04-15-A (Spec. Ct. Sierra Leone, App. Chamber, Oct. 26, 2009), at 480.

14 Cecile Aptel, International Center for Transitional Justice, “Planning for Residual Issues and Mechanisms for International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals: Briefing Paper,” at 4, Jan. 2007 (issued in preparation for the February 26-27, 2007, “Expert Group Meeting on Planning for Residual Issues for International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals” organized by the International Center for Transitional Justice and the University of Western Ontario) [ICTJ 2007 Briefing Paper].

15 Id.

16 Id.

17 May 2009 Report of the Secretary-General, supra note 4, at para. 28.

18 Note that there are other residual functions, apart from the four identified above. Id. at paras. 21-24, 30-32, and 40.

19 Id. at para. 43.

20 Id. at para. 44.

21 Id. at para. 43.

22 ld.

23 Id. at para. 59.

24 Id.

25 See, e.g., Letter from Chargé D’Affaires a.i. of Permanent Mission of Austria to President of the UN Security Council, Dec. 30, 2009, UN Doc. S/2009/687 (Dec. 31, 2009) (containing a letter summarizing the activities of the Informal Working Group during the period Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2009).

26 This meeting was held on October 8, 2009, and was open to all United Nations member states. The meeting focused on residual issues of the ICTY and ICTR. Invited speakers included the Presidents of the ICTY and ICTR, Peter Taksøe-Jensen, Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Center for Transitional Justice.

27 Statement by the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/PRST/2007/23 (June 28, 2007).

28 For example, the International Center for Transitional Justice, the University of Western Ontario, and the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations hosted an Expert Group Meeting on “Planning for Residual Issues and Mechanisms for International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals” in New York on Feb. 26-27, 2007, and an Expert Group Meeting on “Closing the International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals: Mechanisms to Address Residual Issues” in New York on Feb. 4-5, 2010. For the final reports, see International Center for Transitional Justice, Report: Residual Issues Expert Meeting, Feb. 26-27, 2007, http://www.ictj.org/static/Prosecutions/ICTJ_ResidualIssues_rp2010.pdf; International Center for Transitional Justice, Final Report of the Expert Group Meeting on “Closing the International and Hybrid Tribunals: Mechanisms to Address Residual Issues,” Mar. 24, 2010, http://www.ictj.org/static/ProsecutionsЛCTJ_ResidIssues_2010rp_Final.pdf. As well, the ICTY organized a conference in February 2010 on the ICTY’s legacy. The findings of the conference have been summarized in Report of the President on the Conference Assessing the Legacy of the ICTY, Apr. 27, 2010, httpi/www.ICTY.org/x/file/Press/Events/100427_legacyconference_pdt_report.pdf. The Special Court for Sierra Leone held a conference in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in February 2008 to consider its residual issues. Press Release: Special Court Convenes International Conference to Consider Residual Issues, Feb. 18, 2008, http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket= rUaLXOK4VNY%3d&tabid=181.

29 See, e.g., ICTY Completion Strategy Update 2010, supra note 2, at 22-25 and 40-41; ICTR Completion Strategy Update 2010, supra note 5, at paras. 80-81; Sixth Annual Report of the President of the Special Court for Sierra Leone: June 2008-May 2009, at 50-51, (Special Court for Sierra Leone, 2009), http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=%2fuI31qaO5D0%3d&tabid=176.